Greetings from Southwest Virginia. Well, here we have only 15 days until our land-trapping season begins. I hope everyone is ready for the countdown! I am waiting to make sure the fur is very prime. I think because of the market we need to make sure of the primeness of our catch. I always wait until after the deer rifle season has ended before I drive any steel.

I would like to give a big thanks to all who helped in any way to make our annual convention in Luray a great success. If I would start naming names, I would surely miss someone. Many thanks to all the vendors who supported us from far and near and also to everyone who put on the great demos each day. Our 2010 annual convention will be hosted by districts 2 and 3 in the month of July.

As you all know by now, our VTA election is over and a new slate of officers will take over in January. The positions of recording secretary and NTA Rep. will remain the same.

As I hand the Presidency to Steve Colvin, I want to wish him the best as we continue in these trying and uncertain times. Not only the president; but to all the officers that will be taking over Jan. 1, 2010.

I want to say a big thanks for all the support that I have received during my two years in office. I will always be a strong supporter of our great association and I will only be a phone call away if needed for anything to build a stronger and more vibrant trapping association.

Many thanks to all and I will catch you on down the line.

— Bob Newberry

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S REPORT

This is my last membership secretary’s report for the Trapper & Predator Caller. I want to thank you, the membership, for all your support and understanding during my service. As a side benefit in performing the duties of this office, I have had the great pleasure to get to know many of you. I’m proud to call you all “friends,” and I look forward to seeing you at fur sales and conventions for many years to come.

To my fellow Board members, past and present, it has been an honor to serve with you. I appreciate our past discussions, debates and disagreements that have strengthened our association. Thank you for your service to Virginia’s trappers. To the incoming officers and directors, I wish to say thanks for stepping up and serving, and may common sense and good judgment always guide your decisions as you lead us into the future.

Membership stands at 621 as of today, up slightly from last month. I’ll ask you all one last time to keep your memberships current and to sign-up a new member whenever you can.

In closing, I wish you all the best in health, wealth and happiness on the trapline and throughout life. As always, if you should have a question about your membership or just want to chat, please feel free to contact me.

— Norm Mullins

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT

The Nominating Committee met on Oct. 6 to count the ballots and certify the election of our new VTA Officers. The committee provided 582 ballots to the voting membership. A total of 202 (34.7 percent) qualified ballots were returned and counted. By majority, the following candidates were elected to office;

– President — Steve Colvin

– Vice-President — John Bedwell

– General Organizer — Glen Mabe

– Treasurer — Winston Marshall **

– Membership Secretary — Dickie Craig

– Recording Secretary — Jim Covais

– NTA Representative — John Coakley

** The election of the Treasurer position is under protest and will not be certified by the Nominating Committee until the protest is resolved.

All counted ballots, disqualified ballots and the returned ballot check-off sheet are being held by the Nominating Committee pending protest resolution. When complete, the material will be sent to the VTA Archivist to maintain in accordance with the bylaws.

— Art Foltz

DISTRICT 8 REPORT

Finally, we’re back to the season. I’m looking forward to trying out some of the new techniques shown at our district meeting demonstrations. We haven’t thought about targeting certain species based on the fur market predictions or just trap as normal and take our chances. My guess is we’ll set for all furbearers since listening to the market reports would mean leaving the hardware hanging on the hooks. Regardless, we’ll be out in the field and woods enjoying our trade/hobby like most of you and thankful we’re still able (physically and legally) to trap.

The past year was an active one for the pro-animal rights groups in other States and they are likely to be on our doorstep soon. More the reason we need a strong Association with leaders and willing to stand up for the cause. I’m looking forward to our new VTA Officers taking the reins and building on what our past Executive Boards accomplished.

The VTA Veterans Committee is compiling military veteran status of our members with the intent of initiating a military recognition program. I’ll be contacting each district member over the next few weeks to document your military veteran status. I didn’t know we had a Veterans Committee and applaud them for their efforts to recognize our military members.

Our next district meeting is scheduled for March 7, 2010, at 6706 River Road, Fredericksburg. The meeting is purposely set one week prior to the VTA Fur Auction so we can present a fur grading and valuation demonstration. Please bring any or all of your fur to be graded by our experienced fur buyer district member.

A meeting announcement with site directions will be sent to district members and guests however, the event is open to all trappers or trapping-interested persons. If you would like to attend, please contact me at foltzas@comcast.net or 540-630-1756 for details and directions.

I hope you all have a great and safe trapping season.

— Art Foltz

DISTRICT 10 REPORT

Greetings all. I hope you’re enjoying a productive fur season. From what I gather, many folks are not hitting it as hard this year. A poor outlook on fur prices is the driving trend. The silver lining to all this is yet another year to learn fur handling if you’re not comfortable with your ability to do so. Learn now while the “tuition” is low. It will go up again; just like all the other cycles of things. There has been no activity as a district this month. The fur season is declared “off-limits” as voted by the members. It makes writing this report a little more challenging.

Maybe I’ll cover the local Striper fishing action too. Expect our next meeting to be held in March. You can e-mail me at rob.brewer@us.army.mil or werjello@verizon.net. Please be sure to put VTA in the subject line, so I do not delete it as spam. For those who would rather pick up the phone, my cellular is 757-869-9822. ‘Til next time.